2026.04.28
PRESS RELEASE: All parties want to change the electronics tax – yet it remains in place
April 28, 2026
Four out of eight parliamentary parties want to abolish the electronics tax, the rest want to reform it. Yet nothing has happened during the past term. Today, APPLiA and ElektronikBranschen are launching the campaign site Elektronikskatt.se to gather opinion ahead of the election and are simultaneously presenting a party survey that shows that the tax lacks support. The tax costs Swedish households 2.5 billion kronor a year and is unique in Europe.
– This is a tax without political defenders. No parliamentary party wants to keep it in its current form, despite this, Swedish households pay 2.5 billion kronor a year. For many products, it is 690 kronor extra when you buy, for example, a TV or a refrigerator, says Kent Oderud, chairman of APPLiA.
Before the election, the Electronics Industry and APPLiA asked all parliamentary parties about the future of the electronics tax. The results are clear: four parties want to abolish the tax, four want to reform it. No party wants to keep the tax in its current form. Despite this broad political support for change, the tax has not been reformed during the mandate period. The full survey results, party by party, are available at Elektronikskatt.se.
– Electronics are developed for a global market, a Swedish excise tax does not affect product development but only the price for the consumer. With Elektronikskatt.se we want more people to understand what the tax actually means and make it easier for those who want to make their voice heard before the election, says Pernilla Enebrink, CEO of ElektronikBranschen.
The environmental policy justification for the tax has also been questioned by researchers. Mattias Lindahl, professor of product-related environmental work at Linköping University, believes that the tax may defeat its own purpose:
“The increased cost may lead consumers to choose cheaper and less sustainable alternatives. This means increased sales of products with a shorter lifespan and a negative environmental benefit,” says Mattias Lindahl, professor of product-related environmental work at Linköping University.
The electronics tax (formally LSKE – the Act on Tax on Chemicals in Certain Electronics) was introduced in 2017 with the aim of reducing the amount of hazardous chemicals in Swedish homes. Sweden is currently the only country in Europe with this type of tax. Since its introduction, the tax has been changed eleven times, most recently in 2022, when the tax collection increased by approximately 40 percent.
For a Swedish household, the tax this year means an extra SEK 690 for a TV, a refrigerator or a washing machine. In total, Swedish households paid SEK 2.5 billion in electronics tax in 2025. Both the Swedish Tax Agency and the Swedish Chemicals Agency have criticized the tax in their evaluations, including for lack of environmental management and high administrative costs.
About Electronicstax.se
Elektronikskatt.se is a campaign site with a joint appeal from APPLiA and ElektronikBranschen ahead of the 2026 election. The site includes:
– information about how the tax works,
– a calculation model that shows how the price of individual products is affected by the electronics tax,
– the positions of all parliamentary parties on the issue of taxes,
– interviews with researchers about why the tax does not have the intended environmental effect and
– opportunity for the public to sign the petition.
Media contact
APPLIANCE
Name: Kent Oderud, chairman of APPLiA
email: kent.oderud@applia-sverige.se
Mobile: +46 70 4201589
ElectronicsIndustry
Name: Pernilla Enebrink, CEO
email: pernilla.enebrink@
Mobile: +46 73 042 90 37